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Revised data shows deforestation in Brazil Amazon at decade high

12:18 PM Nov 29, 2019 | PTI |

Brasilia: Brazil on Thursday released revised statistics showing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest surpassed 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) in the year to July 2019, the highest in more than a decade.

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The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said last week that satellite data showed 9,762 square kilometers were cleared of trees in the 12-month period, an increase of 29.5 percent.

This week’s revised statistics released by the INPE show the increase was even greater than thought: a 43 percent jump in deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest, for a total loss of 10,100 square kilometers in the 12 months to July.

That’s against a loss of 7,033 square kilometers between August 2017 and July 2018.
The deforestation is the largest since 2008 when 12,287 square kilometers of the Amazon were logged in a 12-month period.

Previous data showed clearing in the Amazon nearly doubled in the first eight months of this year, compared with the same period in 2018, to 6,404 square kilometers.

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The data’s announcement came after fires ravaged swaths of the rainforest earlier this year, igniting a global outcry and diplomatic feud between President Jair Bolsonaro and European leaders.

Far-right Bolsonaro is a proponent of developing agricultural and mining activities in the Amazon, 60 percent of which lies in Brazil’s borders.

Faced with criticism over the fires and tree clearing, Bolsonaro accused non-government organizations of starting the blazes, and France and others of threatening Brazil’s sovereignty over the rainforest.

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